But how much of that was attributed to Nokia’s newest Lumia smartphone, the Lumia 920? Nokia is banking on this Windows-based phone to help reverse its fortunes.

So far, despite steep holiday sales in the U.S. for its last-generation smartphone, the numbers suggest some traction for the Lumia 920.

Nokia has had to face an onslaught of rivals — particularly Google 's Android smartphones, which run anywhere from free with a carrier contract to $200 for one of its most popular smartphones, the Galaxy S III. Google’s flagship Nexus 4 phone is $300 without a contract. Competing in such a low-cost game could easily lead Nokia into a race to the bottom.

But Nokia’s average smartphone selling price was EUR185 (or $245) in 4Q, up from EUR155 ($205) in 3Q, the company’s CFO said. That suggests that, at least in Europe, the Lumia 920 was picking up steam.

The Lumia 920 came out in November, but for the holiday — at least in the U.S. — Nokia sought to drastically undercut its rivals with the use of discounts. In the U.S., for instance, lower-end Lumias were available for free at other carriers, such as T-Mobile and Verizon. The discounts were available to buyers taking on a two-year contract.

The Lumia 920 is a very significant step up from the Lumia 900 and its other smartphones. In particular, it finally sports a screen that is competitive with other smartphones in the market like Samsung’s Galaxy S III and the iPhone 5. The new Lumia 920′s 4.5 inch display has a resolution of 1280 by 768 pixels, giving it that “crisp” look that the phone needs to go toe-to-toe with the iPhone. It also sports improved hardware, including a new camera that is considered by many to be among the best.

There are still plenty of uncertainties. We don’t have an exact break-down of what happened in the U.S., and there is still the question of how carrier subsidies played into the money Nokia made off its Lumia smartphones. But early signs indicate some level of success with its newest flagship Windows Phone 8 smartphone.